Single body protective casing for solenoid assembly

ABSTRACT

A solenoid assembly of which the electromagentic unit including an electrical coil, a magnetic core, a plunger and so forth are held by a protective casing made from resilient materials and housed in a cover. The protective casing is slit in a desired direction and has an inside space having a corresponding shape to that of the electromagnetic unit.

United States Patent [191 Kanawa Dec. 11, 1973 1 SINGLE BODY PROTECTIVE CASING FOR SOLENOID ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Yuken Kogyo Company,

Kanagawa-ken, Japan [22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 210,395

Haruo Kanawa, Fujisawa, Japan [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 28, 1970 Japan 45/132548 [52] US. Cl. 335/278, 206/DIG. 33 [51] Int. CI. I-I0lf 7/00 [58] Field of Search 335/202, 260, 278;

206/46 FR, 46 H, DIG. 33; 336/90 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,209,096 9/1965 Reiner et al. 335/202 X 3,648,203 3/1972 Kane 335/202 X Primary Examiner-George Harris Attorney-Harold D. Steinberg et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A solenoid assembly of which the electromagentic unit including an electrical coil, a magnetic core, a plunger and so forth are held by a protective casing made from resilient materials and housed in a cover. The protec tive casing is slit in a desired direction and has an inside space having a corresponding shape to that of the electromagnetic unit.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures '1 SINGLE BODY PROTECTIVE CASING FOR- SOLENOID ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a solenoid assembly of which an electromagetic unit including an electrical coil, a magnetic core and a plunger is held in a protective casing made of resilient materials and housed inside a cover member.

A conventional solenoid assembly is prepared in such a way that the electromagentic unit thereof, such as an electric coil, a magnetic core, a plunger, etc. is attached to a metal plate and housed within a cover to which the metal plate is secured. Alternatively, the electromagnetic unit is housed inside a cover and held in position resiliently by a spring or the like. Such mounting of the solenoid assembly is defective in that mounting and dismantling the assembly is accompanied by considerable difficulties.

The present invention has been contrived to obviate such defects in the conventional solenoid assembly. According to this invention, the solenoid assembly such as an electrical coil, a magnetic core, a plunger, etc. are held by a retainer casing made of resilient material and housed inside a cover member to facilitate mounting and dismantling operations. According to the present invention, any mechanical shocks that generate during the operation of the device can be effectively absorbed through the dampening effect of the resilient material. The noises also may be absorbed and the service life be lengthened. In addition, the space inside the overall apparatus may be minimized and the dissipation of the heat generated in the coil to the outside is possible because of the thermal conductivity of the resilient materials. i I

In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the solenoid assembly housed in a cover, I

FIG.,2 is a perspective view illustrative of the relationship between the protective casing and the electromagnetic unit, and.

FIGS. 3 to 9 respectively show formed on the protective casing.

Referring now to FIG. 1, A denotes a cover in which electromagnetic unit B and a protective casing C made of resilient materials may be housed. The electromagnetic unit B comprises a magnetic core 2, an electrical coil 3 and a plunger 4. .The plunger 4 is moved axially by the magnetic force of the coil 3 to move a valve spool, not shown.

The protective casing C is made of such resilient materials as rubber or synthetic resin and has one or more slits extending 'vertically, horizontally or in any desired directions from the outer surfaces 5, 6 to the inner surface 7. Such a slit 8 is for inserting the electromagnetic different possible slits -unit B and is provided with a hole 9 at its terminating end to prevent the slit from becoming further enlarged. The space 1 within the protective casing C is formed so as to fit snugly with the outer configuration of the electromagnetic unit B, leaving no empty spaces in the casing as the unit B is housed within the same as shown in FIG. 2.

When the protective casing as above constructed is detached from the moulding die (not shown), it is in the state as shown in FIG. 1, being open and the electromagnetic unit B is inserted within its opening part and closed, over which is placed the cover A. The mechanical shock generated in the electromagnetic unit in operation can be absorbed through the dampening action of the protective casing made of the resilient materials and the mounting and dismantling operations of the solenoid assembly are made easier by virtue of the integrally formed protective casing, which reduced the number of component parts, thus simplifying the inventory management. Moreover, the electromagnetic unit will not slip out of the assembly even if the protective casing should accidentally be removed from the cover, thereby preventing possible losses of the component parts.

FIG. 2 illustrates how the electromagnet unit B is received in the hollow interior space 1 of the protective casing. Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates how the configuration of this hollow interior space conforms to that of the unit B. FIG. 3 illustrates an arrangement where the slit 8 extends vertically to enable the casing C to be spread apart in a manner similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4 the slit extends horizontally so that the upper part of the casing may be tilted away from the lower part thereof. FIGS. 5 and 9 respectively illustrate different locations of slits. In all of FIGS. 5-9 various slits extend vertically so that vertically extending portions of the casing can be spread apart from each other to receive the electromagnet unit. In FIG. 5 the ends of the slit, where the openings 9 are located, are situated at the left surface which is visible in FIG. 5, while in FIG. 6, the slit extends upwardly from the bottom with the openings 9 situated adjacent the top end of the casing C. In FIGS. 7 and 9, there are a pair of mutually perpendicular slits which provide four sections of the casing C which can be spread apart from each other, these spreadable sections extending downwardly from the top in FIG. 7 and upwardly from the bottom in FIG. 9.

In FIG. 8, the slit 8 is similar to that of FIG. 3 in that it is situated in a plane which extends diagonally across the casing C, but in FIG. 9 the slit extends upwardly from the bottom while in FIG. 3 the slit extends downwardly from the top.

What is claimed is:

1. In a solenoid assembly, an electromagnet unit and a casing adapted to receive said unit, said casing consisting of a single body of resilient material formed in its interior with a hollow space conforming to the exterior configuration of said unit for receiving the latter with a snug fit in the interior of said casing, said casing being formed with a slit forming from parts of the casing portions which are spreadable away from each other to give access to the interior of said casing, said casing when positioned with said slit thereof closed and with said unit in the interior of said casing protecting said unit against mechanical shocks and at the same time dissipating heat, generated in the unit during operation thereof, due to the thermal conductivity of the resilient material of said casing.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a cover covers said casing.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said slit extends downwardly from a top end of said casing toward but terminating short of a bottom end of said casing.

4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said slit extends upwardly from a bottom end of said casing toward but terminating short of a top end of said casing.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said casing has top and bottom ends and said slit is situated between said top and bottom ends of said casing. 

1. In a solenoid assembly, an electromagnet unit and a casing adapted to receive said unit, said casing consisting of a single body of resilient material formed in its interior with a hollow space conforming to the exterior configuration of said unit for receiving the latter with a snug fit in the interior of said casing, said casing being formed with a slit forming from parts of the casing portions which are spreadable away from each other to give access to the interior of said casing, said casing when positioned with said slit thereof closed and with said unit in the interior of said casing protecting said unit against mechanical shocks and at the same time dissipating heat, generated in the unit during operation thereof, due to the thermal conductivity of the resilient material of said casing.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a cover covers said casing.
 3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said slit extends downwardly from a top end of said casing toward but terminating short of a bottom end of said casing.
 4. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said slit extends upwardly from a bottom end of said casing toward but terminating short of a top end of said casing.
 5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said casing has top and bottom ends and said slit is situated between said top and bottom ends of said casing. 